Cricketleg Creative

“Happy Holidays” Challenge

Challenge Cards, Handcrafted Cards, Holiday Cards

Monday Challenge from Simon Says Stamp this time is “Happy Holidays”

happy holidays challenge

Well hi!

Welcome to another edition of Julie Enters Card Challenges! This time the challenge is creating anything with the theme of Happy Holidays!

As luck would have it, I was already working on this theme so I’m able to crank out some entries really, really fast!

Ready to see? Let’s go!

Baby, It’s Cold Outside!

I’ve been really wanting to use my new blending brushes because up till now, I’ve been using the wooden handled, foam circle ink blending tools. I have to say the blending brushes are just so comfortable to use and it feels easier to get a smooth blend. Making that blue shading around was so much easier than the other tools I have.

Stamps are from Stampin’ Up!, except for the snowflake stamp which is Posh Impressions.

happy holidays challenge

Merry Christmas Wreath

This card is the first of two I’m sharing in this challenge that use glitter and double stick tape backgrounds. Check out my most recent blog post to see how those backgrounds come together.

Finishing off the card is a die cut with just the greeting and berries colored in. I love the simple color scheme but kind of blingy look!

Merry christmas glitter stripes

Christmas Letterboard

As I was perusing other papercrafters’ entries into a recent challenge, I saw that someone had an entry featuring a letterboard die set. Not knowing this even existed, I got so excited and immediately went and bought it!

It’s really fun to use, although a bit time consuming to place the letters. Pretty quickly I figured out that placing the letters upside down and in reverse order on some temporary tape helped tremendously with placement! I could just finish an entire line on the tape, apply liquid adhesive carefully to the letter backs, and carefully place the entire line down on the board. Then I gently removed the tape while holding down the letters.

I have been having so much fun with this die set! So many possibilities!

amazon card

Gift Bags Slimline

I almost labeled these as shopping bags, which I guess they could also be. But they really look more like gift bags I suppose. Once I chose the coordinating papers, the card came together very quickly. I used some of the patterned paper to line the envelope.

I love making slimline cards as it gives me quite a bit of room to spread things out! It’s just the right space for this card.

Candle wick is what I used for the handles. Hey, it’s what I happened to have on hand! I used some washi tape from my most recent Hero Arts monthly card kit.

happy holidays challenge

Red and Pink Stripes

So here’s the second card I’m sharing where I used my glitter and double stick tape trick. It’s pink glitter stripes on red cardstock, which is a striking and nontraditional color combo.

The ornament is stamped from multiple stamps from another Hero Arts kit. I added die cut white “greenery” from another die set and I used red/white baker’s string to “hang” it from the card top.

red and pink stripes

So there you have it! Have you started making or picking out your Christmas cards yet?

Y’all take care!

Glitter & Tape Card Backgrounds

Handcrafted Cards, Holiday Cards, Quick Tips

Use fine glitter and double stick tape to create interesting backgrounds for your handmade cards! Glitter tape card backgrounds are an easy way to add pizzazz to your cards.

glitter tape backgrounds

If you’re like me, you may not currently have tons of background papers, background dies, or background stamps at your disposal. And, if you’re like me, you may get a little sad when you feel like you can’t create the backgrounds you want.

Well, I have a solution for you. Well, you know….for now. And it’s kind of fun!

The Glitter

Recently, on my weekly Walmart grocery shop, I ran across some super fine glitter on the back aisle of the craft section. I grabbed a couple of colors and brought them home to experiment. I mean, I paid for them first. And then I brought them home.

They really are beautiful, and are just under $3 a jar. They’re stackable, as you can see in the video. But I have them in a single layer in a drawer.

Anyway, I’m not sure how I cooked up the idea (and I’m not saying I’m the only one who’s thought of this) but I thought that double stick tape combined with this superfine glitter would make a great background option. And it’s inexpensive!

The possibilities are endless. Go for tone on tone, with a glitter that matches closely to your paper color. Do stripes–horizontal, vertical, diagonal. Make a plaid design–all one color or multicolored.

Basically, you can just go nuts.

The Tape

In this video I’m only using two tapes. One is from Lawn Fawn….1/8″ double stick tape. I love this tape and use it all the time. The other is just office supply double stick tape on the disposable roll.

The only reason I chose those two is because that’s what I had! Use what you have and have fun with the results.

You could also incorporate metallic tapes like the blue tape I used on this card. I bought that tape from Hobby Lobby and it’s made my The Paper Studio. But I really wanted to exclusively use double stick for this video.

Watch the video below to see how I, on the fly, made a few backgrounds with very little effort.

So there you have it! Glitter tape backgrounds are a fun, easy, and inexpensive card option for birthdays, Christmas, New Year’s, and so on and so forth and what have you!

Hey drop a comment below and tell me how you successfully tame glitter in your card projects. I’m off to clean up the glitter spills on my desk!

Y’all take care!